You Fight to Survive, I Fight to Save
by Bloodrose00
Summary: Kayaba Akihiko didn't create SAO on his own. No, he made it with the help of genius Kanako Sashi and her brilliant daughter, Makanosi. Kanako has been killed by rioters and her daughters are on the run; both from rioters and Kayaba. Rioters want to kill them and Kayaba wants to play with them. Can Maka save her sister? Or will she fall victim to Kayaba's schemes? Read and find out!
1. Chapter 1

We were running. My lungs were burning; my breaths coming in heaving gasps, and black dots were dancing across my vision. Every step was a jolt of pain through my legs and ribcage. Yet, I still ran. If it had just been me, I would have stopped seconds, minutes, hours ago, let them take me and kill me; let them take me from _his_ grasp forever. But it wasn't just me, she was here too; my little sister, Maia.

A small girl of seven years. She had a big heart and a trusting disposition, but in a time where sweet and trusting can get you killed. My sister was all I had left; my father had died when she was two. She couldn't remember him, but I could seeing as how I was ten at the time. She was so innocent, I made sure she never saw me cry, but the reason for our running had long since stolen that from her: they killed our mother and now they were after us.

She had long given up running and now rode me piggy-back as I sprinted my way through the back alleys and finally got back to our hide out. _Too close. _They had almost gotten us back their. I should know better than to risk going out to the market, but she looked so hungry... I place Maia's sleeping form on the mat of newspapers that served as our new home. I covered her with the only blanket we had, a threadbare rag of a thing, before sneaking back out of the alley to check for followers. I stayed there for several minutes before returning to my little sister. I started pulling out the food that I had managed to steal, but I just ended up dropping it all on the already trash-covered floor. She was gone; my little angel was _gone. _

"Maia!" I whisper shouted. "Maia! This isn't funny, come out now!" no answer. "Maia!" still none. "Mai-" I stopped when I saw the blanket dropped on the ground leading down the other end of the alley. I tread softly down the narrow passage, looking for any sign of my little light, but I couldn't find any. I reached the end of the alley and my eyes widened in shock. There was my sister, talking and smiling with the man who had also chased her and I across half of Tokyo. _Kayabe Akihito._

"Maia! Get away from him!" I yell, quickly dashing up and grabbing her before backing up again. I would have backed straight into the alley had my back not met with a wall of flesh. A glance over my shoulder confirmed the feeling of dread creeping up my spine; we were trapped. I tightened my hold on Maia before turning my gaze back to Kayabe. there must have been something seriously scary in my eyes because the man flinched and took a step back when his eyes met them. He cleared his thoat, adjusted his tie, and put his emotionless mask back on.

"He-hello Miss Sashi. I hope you are well?"

"Fabulous. The five-star accommodations have really kept me in awe." I reply dryly, not wanting small-talk.

"If oyu had just come with me in the first place-"

"Now why would I do that!? My mother was killed because she worked on your stupid game, I don't want the same for Maia..."

"She would be very well cared for and protected if you came...willingly" I flinched at the underlying threat before composing myself.

"I have to turn your offer down...again, Mr. Akihito..." I turned and walked towards a gap in the man-wall surrounding us.

"I was afraid you'd say that. Men?" all of a sudden, Maia was wrenched out of my arms and quickly put in the back seat of one of the many cars.

"Maia! You can't take her! That's kidnapping you bastard!" I yelled at him, fearing for my sister's life.

"Now will you come quietly? You wouldn't want something...unfortunate to happen to little Maia, would you? You don't know what kinds of horrible people there are out there." He stated in false sympathy. I froze at the obvious threat.

"You wouldn't dare-"

"Try me." he cut me off, then began walking back to his car. ""Shall we talk? I'm free right now, but I have to be back for a little announcement to my...guests on SAO. Please, let me give you a ride back to my facility." I had no choice but to follow him, but his next words made me shiver in dread and rethink running.

"I have big plans for you _Makanosi Sashi._" We got into the car and began driving towards center Tokyo.

"What do you want from me?" I questioned the silent man sitting across from me.

"I want you to take care of things when I am busy." Kayabe replied.

"Is that it?" I asked, incredulous that what he wanted was so simple. "There must be more than that. Some sort of catch. Like a life-long contract...or something like that."

"Something like that..." he said with a conspiratorial smile.

"So what exactly am I going to be doing? Files, data management, coding for SAO-"

"None of that."

"...then enlighten me..."

"you'll see when we get there." he smiled again and stayed that way for the twenty, agonizing minutes it took to get to his building. During those twenty minutes I worried about my sister. How was she? Was she hurt? Was she scared? Are they taking care of her? Is she crying? Does she need me? These questions just kept repeating in my head like a broken record, making me even more tightly wound with each passing minute.

"Don't worry. My men are taking good care of her." I flinched at his attempt at being comforting. I was uneasy with the fact that my emotions were so easily read. I schooled my face into the mask that the devil across from me was so fond of and just stared cooly out the window. As we got closer and more people appeared, I noticed something peculiar; all the people were sending hate-filled glares at the train of cars, nut no one was attacking them. I looked to Akihiko with the question clear in my eyes.

"aah, yes. The populace has been forbidden from attacking me by the government." He answered my next question too. "It's because I hold all of their children's lives in the palm of my hand right now. They're running on the assumption that if they kill me, there will be no one left to get their babies back. If they knew you existed, they wouldn't hesitate to slaughter me in the streets because they could use your sister to manipulate you."

"How could anyone do such a horrible thing to two children," I said dryly. His slight smirk showed that he appreciated my dry humor. That was the end of our only conversation.

* * *

When we got back to his building, I was led upstairs to a lounge room where we, once again, sat across from each other.

"What now?" I asked, nervous about the reason I was here.

"Now you enter Sword Art Online," he said. It took me a few seconds to process what he had said.

...

"WHAT!?" I yelled, stunned. "Are you insane?! I can't go in there! If I die, I can't care for my sister. She needs me!"

"Then here's my proposal: You enter SAO and monitor it for me and complete my requests when I am occupied by outside work. In return I will spare your sisters life. If you refuse, Tokyo Police may find a small body under a bridge or SAO may find itself with a different new player." I was horrified at the ultimatum he had given me. I wanted to accuse him of sanity and refuse, but Maia... Her safety came first. It always has it always will...

"I-I'll do it," His eyes lit up, but he got a wary face with my next sentence. "But on two conditions."

"you aren't really in the position to be making demands Miss Makano-"

"My first condition: All of Maia's needs are taken care of and she's treated with the utmost honor and care."

"Agreed. Your second one?"

"As soon as I am in SAO, you do not interfere with my real body."

"...I'll do it," he said after a slight hesitation."But I have one condition of my own." My stomach sank with renewed fear. "In the game, you will not be an Immortal Object, as I had originally planned, you will be a regular player. That means that if you die there, you die here. Understood?" I nodded. "Then let us begin."

He led me to a back room and had me lie on a table. He hooked up a couple of tubes to me, "Life support if you need it" he said. He handed me a visor, very different from the regular helmets, and told me to put it on. I saw the symbol for SAO come up, asking me if I wanted to join. Before I entered his playground, he said some final words:

"I have big plans for you _Makanosi Sashi._"

I didn't even dignify that with a response. "Initiate link."

And so it begins.


	2. Chapter 2

_"I have big plans for you Makanosi Sashi."_

_I didn't even dignify that with a response. "Initiate link."_

_And so it begins._

* * *

I open my eyes to see wooden rafters above my head. Blinking my eyes a couple times, I looked around. I was in a bed, probably in an inn, but as to _where_ I was, I had no idea. A glint of metal caught my eyes and I turned towards the source. Next to the bed were two beautifully crafted katanas in different colored sheaths, one black one white, and on the table sat a foot-long rod attached to a strap that I assumed was to go around my thigh. A small sign appeared in front of me that said 'Welcome to SAO! Click *Tutorial* to begin.' and ended with a smiley face. I snorted at the irony and clicked the proposed button. I read through all of the material about weapons, skills, items, etc... twice before closing the menu. Picking up the katana in the black sheath, I examined the blade and saw that it was made up of an extremely strong, onyx metal. The white katana was made up of and equally strong, gleaming, white metal.

Re-sheathing them, I picked up the small rod and examined it. Before I could finish my examination, there was a creak as my door opened. With an instinctive flick of my wrist, the small rod extended into a long, sleek staff with electricity dancing along it that, oddly enough, didn't harm me at all. A woman came it with a platter of food, but stopped when she saw my weapon.

"So-Sorry Miss! I didn't mean to disturb you!" She quickly place the food down and scrambled out of the room. i felt guilty, but I was too fascinated with my weapon to care at the moment. Before risking any more mishaps, I decided to check my weapons list to see what I had arms-wise. Looking at the list I saw that the katanas were called Yin and Yang or, collectively, Dragon Fangs. The rod-staff's name confused me though; it was called the Soul Blade. It described the weapon as taking the form most suited to the user. Most users would only have one form for the weapon, two was extremely rare, and three forms was considered a legend. Many Beta users searched for this blade during their playing time here, but were never able to find it. The Soul Blade chooses its user.

_Great. I chosen by an upgraded stick. _I felt a shock go through my fingers at my thoughts and, before I knew it, I was apologizing to the stinking thing! _Great. A stick with a personality. Even better! _I felt the staff getting ready to shock me again. _Don't even think about it buddy. If you do, I'll throw you off a cliff. _The staff settled down with a sligth hum and I felt smug until I realized something.

"Why am I talking to a stick!?" whatever, lets just get started. Somehow, I was able to mentally communicate that I needed the staff back in rod form and it complied. Strapping the rod to my thigh and the katanas to my back, I realized what I was wearing: form-fitting black pants, knee-high supple leather boots, a blue tank top, knuckle-plated fingerless gloves that went up to my elbows, and a black cloak with blue designs on it. Looking in the mirror I saw my regular old face looking back at me: "creepy" silver eyes fair skin, regular copper-blonde hair thrown into a pony-tail, and the small scar on my cheek from when I was young. I sighed in relief at the familiarity and left my room. I went down the stairs and paid for my room with the money I found in my storage. I was on floor 1 according to the signs; and level 1 too apparently. Deciding to level up, I went to the outskirts of the Town of Beginnings and wandered for a bit.

About 10 minutes in, I heard growling. Six pairs of glowing red eyes came out of the trees: I had encountered a pack of wolves. Deciding to try out my new weaponry, I unsheathed one of my katanas. How did mom say do do it? Focus attack energy on the sword and wait for it to charge up then...STRIKE. Instinctively, I turned around and cut the wolf that had tried to get me from behind into ribbons. It disappeared in a shower of blue shards and the rest of the wolves snarled at me; I snarled back. They hesitated before all attacking me as a group. I unsheathed the other katana and diced them all up before coming face to face with what I assumed was the alpha of this little pack He was bigger and meaner than the rest and, it appeared, more intelligent. He didn't attack me straight out, instead choosing to circle around me. Darting in fast, he took me off guard and almost clawed me before I jumped out of the way. Unfortunate;y, he knocked away my swords; and seemed to be gloating about it.

I pulled out the rod and she, somehow it told me it was a 'she', elongated into a staff without me asking. The wolf eyed the new threat before pouncing at me. I powered up my attack in my new weapon and readied myself for his approach. Right before he reached me, I spun to the side and slammed to but of my spear into the wolf's side. I didn't realize what powering up my weapon would do and it ended up frying his ass with 20,000 volts of electricity...Oops? The last wolf disappeared and the 'items dropped' screen came up. On it was a new pair of gloves with retractable claws (A/N Like Wolverines claws) that I immediately equipped and a 'Chameleon Cloak' that could apparently help me blend in and hide with my surroundings; I equipped that too. My level went up to level 5 because, apparently, the wolves were level 10 enemies.

I collected Yin and Yang and began reading trough my new stats. I was interrupted, however, when a slow clapping began behind me. I turned around and saw a guy with spiky red hair and a couple other guys with him. He was grinning and so were the other guys.

"that was incredible! A newbie defeating monsters four levels above them! Amazing!" The guys around Red nodded in agreement to his words. "My name's Klein, what's yours?"

"i know your name already, It's on your Stat bar. You should see mine as well." I replied, not trusting the bubbly red-head just yet. My words seemed to deflate his energy and he pouted.

"i asked because it's the polite thing to do..." his words shocked me. I wished SAO had more people like him.

"Makanosi Sashi, but you can call me Maka." I said, surprising him.

"Hi Maka! Nice to meet you! Is that your real name? Is this your first battle? Where'd you get those weapons? Where'd you learn to fight like that? Can you teach me? Can you join us? What about-" I cut him off before he could ask a bunch of questions. _God, he's like a puppy!_

"Ok, let's see...Yes. Yes. I found them. I picked up pointers from the town. Maybe. Maybe...I think that was all of them..." I say to him.

It takes a while for all the answers to register, but when hey do, hi face lights up like a Christmas Tree. _Oh dear, I feel I have done something wrong._ He pulls up his menu and presses a couple of buttons. His menu disappears and a party invite appears in front of me.

"How 'bout you join our party? We can work together, see how you like it, then you can decides if you want to stay or go!" his smile is infectious and I smile back. It feels weird to do do though. I haven't smiled for a while... I shake my head of sad thoughts and accept his invite with my smile back in place. _This could be fun_. I see his face has a tint of pink on it, but before I can ask if he's feeling well, he turns away and starts walking. His friends follow him and I follow them. As we walk I study all of their stats and they are all about the same level as me: Klein is level 7, there's a level 6, two level 5's other than me, and two level fours. All in all, it's a very well-rounded group: it even has a healthy mix of offense, defense, and healers. _This will be interesting..._


	3. Chapter 3

We walked in the forest for about two hours before we were stopped by a large roaring. We readied ourselves and got out our weapons: me having one of my katanas out. From the trees lumbered three identical ogre creatures. I analyzed them and saw that they were a level 10 mini-boss: the Brothers Grimm. I pulled out my other katana and had them at rest; crossed in front of my in a defensive stance.

"Guys! This is the Mini-Boss that we've been looking for, but it seems to be a couple levels higher than what was originally said by the info-broker! Be careful!" Klein called out the warning just in time for the Brothers Grimm to charge.

It was a taxing fight, but we managed to take down two of them. There were three of us left standing, the rest unconscious with two dying. As the second one fell, the third one let out a deafening roar and doubled in size. Not only that, but a large, metal-spiked club appeared in his hand.

"Shit..." I muttered. Klein let out a bitter laugh at this comment.

"Ya think?" that was all he could say before the Uber-Ogre charged. He easily took out one of the three of us still standing, killing him on impact. He growled and swiped at us again, but we dodged that blow as well. The third swing clipped my partner and sent him into a tree, knocking him unconscious. I immediately attacked with new fervor, but none of my attacks pierced his hide like it did with his brothers. I dodged his fourth swing but, unable to dodge it, caught the next one between my crossed katanas. I was quickly being overpowered and so, jumped away, leaving behind my beloved swords. I pulled out the rod and extended her into staff form. I powered her up with all my rage and protectiveness over my newfound friends and she began to vibrate with power. I leaped up high and swung the staff down to deliver the final stroke.

The Uber-Ogre lifted up his club and my anger heightened even more. _He shouldn't be able to block this! It's not fair! I won't let him! _And with that thought, my staff began to glow silver. My staff transformed and became a wickedly sharp, electrically-powered, six-foot tall, silver death scythe. I swung the deadly blade down and cut through the Uber-Ogre's weapon as if it was butter. The blade continued along its path and sliced my enemy straight down the middle.

Unbeknownst to me, Klein had awoken and had watched the spectacle with an awed expression. He was captivated by the silhouette of the maiden with the scythe, the blue shards of her defeated enemy dancing around her. He witnessed the moment when she caressed her weapon fondly, whispering:

"_Artemis..._"

_The ultimate huntress. It's a fitting name, don't you think? _I asked her as we reveled in our victory. I felt the faintest whisperings of agreement before she shrunk down to her rod form. I strapped her to my thigh, picked up and strapped on my katanas, and began assisting my fallen comrades. The drop menu came up and on it was a new weapon and boots. The boots were the softest, yet strongest, leather that money could buy and the weapon was a whip, but no ordinary whip. The whip a dark , almost black, forest green and had sharp, black metal pieces jutting out of it on the top half of it. Its name was Briar, like the bushes that are one of nature's best defenses. I equipped the whip to my belt, the boots to my feet, and continued my helping. Most of them were already waking up, so I treated the still-knocked-out ones first. I was able to save one of the previously dying teammates, both level 4s, but the other died. _That makes two deaths I was unable to prevent, _I thought guiltily.

All in all, we got away with no critical or seriously major injuries. Most of them would only have scrapes or bruises tomorrow.

Klein came up to me and said in a low tone, only meant for me, "thank you" before he walked off to assist the injured ones in walking. we didn't have enough teleport crystals for everyone, so we had to walk the three hours back to town. Klein and the better off guys in the group helped the worse-off guys while I stayed in the lead, looking for danger. We encountered a few wolves and boars, but nothing that I couldn't handle and got back to town in no time. We walked to the nearest inn and Klein stayed with the guys while I went out and bought food and medical supplies with my share of the drop money. By the time I had gotten everything I deemed necessary, I was cleaned out of the money I just earned. I returned to the inn and emptied the fruits of my labor on the table in our room.

I had gotten many healing, anti-poison, anti-paralyze, and other medical crystals that the guys immediately used. While they were taking care of that, I gathered the food ingredients that I had picked up and started on dinner in the little kitchenette. I was boiling the water for noodles when I heard the gasps of surprise.

Well. Looks like they found the other things I got.

"Maka! This is too much! Buying fifteen teleport crystals must have completely cleaned you out of the reward money you just got!"

"It was worth it." I replied. "I don't want to be stuck in a situation like that again. For one, we could have all died there and we didn't have the crystals to save ourselves and for two, we had injured people that could have gotten seriously hurt if we hadn't gotten back to the village in time. What if next time we have someone in near critical condition and walking would take too long? What then?"

"I see your point. But please at least take a portion of my earnings as recompense." The other guys were nodding along with him. I argued for five minutes before finally relenting and taking and very small portion of each of their earnings. In the end, we all had the same amount of cash from that boss. Afterwards, I made noodles with chicken and some vegetables and we all sat down to eat.

Our motley crew now consisted of two level 8's, me and Klein, three level sevens, and a level six. We had all gotten some sort of drop. Two of the sevens and the six each got a card that could be used to trap a non-boss creature they encounter and use it later on in battle. Once captured the creature will be loyal to you and only you until you die or until it runs out of HP. Handy.

We stayed in that town for two days before moving up to floor 8. Klein was now level 13 and I level 16. When we battled, most of the guys took turns swapping out in the front lines, but, for me, it seemed to be an unspoken agreement that I should always be in the front line. Thus, my high level.

After about three weeks of floor 8, we went up to floor 20. All of us now ranged from level 21 to level 32 (me). Still well-rounded. After about a week on floor 20, I decided to get a haircut. My hair had grown quite long in the past month, from my shoulders to about just below them. I like the length, so I was just going to get the ends tidied up. It took about 45 minutes to get it done and, when I returned, Klein seemed distracted.

I asked him what was up and he said he met an old friend. When I asked who he said the guy who taught him how to fight. Knowing how good Klein was with a sword from the start, I wanted to meet this guy.

"What's his name?"

"Kirito."

"I'll be back. I'm going to go say high to Klein's mentor." I didn't even wait for a reply before leaving. All I heard was a faint "bye Maka!" Through the door as I went down the stairs. I looked with my player-locator sight and found the guy. He wasn't moving, just staying in one place.

As I walked outside, the first thing I notice is how deserted it is. There is nobody on the streets. Shrugging off the unease I feel, I continue to Kirito's location. I see a shape standing by the fountain and jog up to it.

"Kirito I assume?"

"and you are?"

"a friend of a friend."

"what friend."

"Klein." He froze at that name.

"He told you to come here?"

"nope. He told me you taught him how to play."

"Ye-es?"

"I must thank you for that. He's saved my life more times than I count because of those skills."

"Okay..."

"What are you doing here?"

"waiting."

"For what.?"

"a special boss..."

"I'll join you then."

"I'm sorry. Who are you?"

"Aha. That would help, wouldn't it? My names Makanosi, but you can call me Maka."

"okay Maka. This is a level 40 boss, not for someone that's only level 32. So, please. Leave this to me." He said before turning his back on me.

"Listen here, buddy! I was beating bosses twice my level since I was level 4. Don't patronize me, I know what I'm doing."

Before he could reply, the clock chimed midnight I and a giant cow fell com the sky. I say cow in the loosest terms because this was no ordinary cow. Nope. We can't just fight ordinary things, can we? This "cow" was a twenty foot tall beast that had the lower half and head was that of a bull and his torso was that of a man. A very large man. This creature looked familiar, but I wasn't sure.

I saw my companion, Kirito, sink down into a defensive stance with his sword out. He rushed at the beast, but it was surprisingly quick. Then it did something weird. It's hands began to glow and the ground shake. All of a sudden, we transported from the town to a narrow, walled hallway. The creature was gone.

Walking up to the wall, I touched it and realized that this wasn't a wall at all, but a hedge. Then it hit me. We were in a maze. And the creature? Well it could be none other than a:..

"Minotaur..." I breathed and my companion looked at me in shock.

"What's that?" He asked.

"A half man half beast. It's a part of Greek mythology. It's said that it had the strength of ten of the strongest men and the intelligence of the smartest humans. Because of its intelligence, it gets bored really easily. And so it made a game. He made a maze and put his "players" in it. They had to get out of the maze before he caught up to them. If he caught up, they would get eaten. Alive." I shuddered at the thought.

"We better get goi-" he was cut off by a large sign that appeared in front of us. 'Begin' is said.

"That's our cue." I muttered dryly and began running in the direction that the sign appeared in. "This should be fun."


End file.
